Of December Nights and Shallow Graves
by GhostlyMayhem
Summary: Her mother was probably nothing more than old, rotting bones lying in a shallow grave. Without even knowing it, she was right. The story of what exactly happened the night Gaz's mother went missing. One-shot.


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**Of December Nights and Shallow Grave****s**

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_Late December 23rd_

_11:26 P.M._

Light green eyes opened to a hazy sight of a window. A car window, and even in her slightly light-headed state of mind, she could clearly see trees zoom past as the unfamiliar car she was in continued to drive ahead down a dark road. It had been around ten at night when she left the night shift, heading to her car... when...

She immediately sat up straight, quickly remembering what had happened earlier, though she couldn't tell exactly how far along ago it had been when she blacked out.

_Chloroform._

When that rag with the overwhelming aroma came over her mouth, her mind had already gone into it's own form of survival mode, for all the time she had ever spent with chemicals in the labs where she worked quickly let her mind know before she could even comprehend what was happening. Rag over mouth equaled attempted kidnapping, she knew that, and she knew from experience that inhaling the substance that that rag had been soaked in would cause her to black out and become captive in the hands of whoever was behind her. If she could just break free from the firm grasp, she could make it to her car and drive away to safety. To her family, where she belonged. The possibility that she might never see her husband or two young children again pushed her body to it's limits as she struggled, trying to scream yet failing for the rag muffled the sounds of it, and she had been the only one there in that darkened parking lot... or so she thought.

She tried not to breathe in. Oh how hard she did try. But whoever was behind her had been literally shoving the rag down her throat when he realized how long it was taking for her in inhale the scent. Finally the feeling in her lungs due to the lack of oxygen and the sensation of that rag nearly choking her caused her to cough and sputter, inhaling a big gulp of air through her nose, then another and another. When whoever was behind her had heard the heavy, frantic breathing, the rag came right back over her mouth and nose, and before she could stop herself, she inhaled the deep scent. It only took a matter of seconds for her to become lightheaded and black out in the arms of whoever had snuck up behind her. It all happened so fast when she thought about it then, as she watched the trees pass by in the night.

_Kidnapped... I was..._

It was then that Jade Membrane slowly turned to face her abductor. And her eyes widened at the familiar face in the dim light.

"You..."

She knew him, but barely. In the facility where she worked, he had been a familiar face a few months back. A replacement janitor for a sweet old man who had worked as a janitor for the last few years of his working life until he finally retired. The man beside her driving had been the older man's replacement. And she had passed by him a few times in the hall on her way to lunch during the few breaks she had on those long work days. With her husband, the prestigious Professor Membrane by her side most of the time, there was no need to feel alarmed ever, and even then the man driving her into the night surely miles from home hadn't rubbed her the wrong way.

Until now.

He didn't take his eyes off the road nor acknowledge that she was well awake and watching him with wide eyes. So without a second thought she immediately turned away from him, reaching for the passenger's side door, quickly, almost frantically going to open it. She was about to tug on the latch when she heard it lock. Her heart stopped, her breathing hitched in her throat as she slowly, hesitantly pulled her hand away, slowly turning back toward the familiar man beside her.

_Don't panic... Don't panic... A calm mind will get you out of here._

"This was the only way," he mumbled, though Jade wasn't sure if he was directly talking to her, or if he was reassuring himself about what he planned to do to her.

Silence followed after that, with Jade using the next thirty minutes to contemplate her options on how to escape. She thought of her four-year-old son and her three-year-old daughter back at home, surely in their beds sound asleep, wrapped protectively by the blankets on their beds. Christmas was only two days away, she swore to herself right there that she would fight through this. She would be with her children on Christmas. She would make sure of it.

But she doubted herself. In the long run, she found herself not fit to fight. At only 5ft tall and 118 pounds with no muscle, having spent her school life drowning herself in studies and books rather than even attempting PE like everyone else in regular public schools, she found herself doubting that she could actually fight against a 6ft tall, rather large man with surely powerful strength. He could probably snap her neck in a matter of seconds if he wanted.

So she decided on the only plan that could possibly work. Reason with her kidnapper. She wasn't sure if this was a sexually motivated kidnapping, or a ransom. Whatever the reason, she thought that maybe, just maybe, she could bargain with him. "What do you want?" she asked, her voice shaky slightly despite her best attempts to keep her voice steady. "Money? M-my husband as a lot of it, if that's what you want-"

"-I want you," he interrupted, still not taking his eyes off the dark road ahead of him.

She was hoping for it to be a ransom kidnapping. She knew she had better chances of surviving a ransom kidnapping than a sexually-motivated kidnapping. Her chances of survival seemed to dissolve before her eyes when he spoke those words. _Oh God... He's going to... going to..._ She couldn't bring herself to say the word, that one word that sent shivers down her spine.

She had heard the stories. Almost everyone has at least once in their life, catching a glimpse of it on the local or national news. A young girl or woman kidnapped and raped. Those were most victims don't survive after the first three hours. The kidnapper only wants that one thing, then will discard the victim once they get what they wanted. And she realized, with dread filling her, that she might become one of those victims.

Her heart was racing; pumping hard in her chest as her eyes became blurred with tears. She turned to face him again. "Please," she whispered, voice cracking slightly. "I have two children. Do whatever you want with me, but please let me live. They need their mother... They can't grow up without a mother." _I want to be with them on Christmas. I want to watch them grow up, see them graduate high school..._

Hot tears began trickling down her cheeks, but she didn't bother to wipe them away or hide them. She bit her lip, trying to swallow the lump in her throat. The horrible thought that she might not see her children ever again... It took every ounce of strength in her body to not cry out.

He didn't answer her pleads. In fact, the rest of the ride he kept his mouth shut, keeping his eyes focused on the road ahead. And as she silently cried to herself, watching him as he drove, she could already tell by how deep in thought he seemed, that he was already planning on where to kill her. Far out in the woods where no one would ever find her, where the secret of what happened would forever be sealed.

She seemed to shrink in her seat, closing her eyes as she felt the car move forward. She focused all her inner energy, all her concentration, every part of being into pretending she was anywhere but there in that car, headed to seemingly nowhere. She let her mind go blank, though the possibilities of what might happen to her in the upcoming hours lingered.

The only thought keeping her mind and body calm during her current predicament, was an image of her son and daughter in their beds, fast asleep, safe and sound.

* * *

_Early December 24th_

_1:26 A.M._

"...Please don't do this..."

"...Shut up..."

"...Please!"

"I said shut up, bitch!"

He had gotten what he wanted. Once the destination was reached, he silently parked the car on a patch of dirt up a small road, where there were no houses or farms or cabins near by. It was just the two of them locked in that car together, surrounded by nothing but the darkness of the night and those towering forest trees.

Everything horrendous that happened took place in that car. With her locked inside, unable to escape...

"...Tell me you love me..."

With her shirt ripped open and her pants gone, her underwear pulled down to her ankles, Jade glared up at him. Though shaking madly with tears running down her cheeks, she kept her mouth shut, not obeying his command.

"SAY IT, BITCH!" Another slap to the face.

She tasted blood in her mouth. _If you want to see Dib and Gaz again, you have to say it..._

"...I...love you..."

He hadn't believed her. In response, he quickly wrapped his massive hands around her throat, pressing hard. And she choked, bringing her hands up, scratching at his arms, trying to pry his hands loose, eyes wide with panic. Her heart raced frantically, thinking of her children back at home. She kicked and scratched, but he kept at it, staring down at her, watching her slowly lose the battle.

_"Mommy, look! I drew a picture of an alien and it's ship!"_

She could feel her heart slow.

_"Mom, can we all go to Bloaty's? All four of us?"_

Staring up at the car ceiling, looking away from the man on top of her, she could see differently. There was a light. All white, it grew brighter and brighter. Her face tingled, her lips and face turning blue, but the light... All that mattered was that light. Before it took her completely, the last image she saw were that of Dib and Gaz, hearing their voices in the silence as everything around her faded.

And he watched her die. He watched as the life faded from her eyes, while her hands slowly went limp, falling to the sides and her flailing feet came to a halt. Her empty green eyes stared back up at him, frozen in time, her face and lips tinted a light shade of blue. The bruise on her neck where his hands came together were as clear as day on the milky white surface; skin that never met the sun.

There was a shovel in the trunk of his car. He planned this for a long time, and all he needed was the small bottle of chloroform, a rag, and a shovel. The shovel would help hide the dirty deed for good.

After dragging her body far out into the darkness of the forest, he went back to his car, more specifically the trunk. With nothing but the shovel in his hand, he made his way back to where he left her body. It took him a good thirty minutes to dig up a hole big enough in the dirt, and another good thirty minutes to place the dirt back over the body once it laid in it's final resting place. Her final resting place. Not in a graveyard where people could leave flowers, but a shallow grave out in the middle of nowhere, where no one would ever know.

It was exactly 2:38 in the morning when he finally drove away, heading back to the city. As he drove, the man, the killer, felt confident: No one would ever find Jade Membrane's body.

* * *

_Early December 24th_

_9:56 A.M._

At three-years old, Gaz Membrane woke up that morning the same way she always did: Expecting to go downstairs and into the kitchen to find her mother and father, a big breakfast on the table as her mother finished setting the table.

Getting up out of bed, she glanced over at the doorway, seeing her brother standing there. She glared at him. "What do you want?" Even back then, as little kids, her brother annoyed her.

At four years old, Dib Membrane had also woken up that morning the same as always: entering reality after dreaming about ghosts and aliens, expecting the same daily occurrence downstairs. But when he went to the window out of sheer curiosity, he noticed something odd. And he appeared confused. "Mommy's car isn't outside."

Gaz blinked. "What?"

So she followed her brother out of her room and into his room, toward his bedroom window which overlooked the driveway. There wasn't an odd feeling in her stomach when she too noticed with her own eyes that her mother's car wasn't in the driveway. Though she was only three at the time, even then she was sure there was an explanation. Her father probably picked her up from work because her car broke down. That could have been it. However, when she spotted the two police cruisers parked in front of the house, it only left her more confused than anything. That meant something was wrong, but what?

The two young siblings left the room and entered the hallway, hesitantly poking their heads out from behind a wall, watching from the staircase, where their suspicions were confirmed. Down below, they could clearly see two uniformed police officers standing in the doorway, with their father speaking to them. Gaz couldn't make out exactly what her father was saying, but by his tone of voice he seemed worried and urgent.

Her father never gave her an exact answer when she later asked where her mother was. He would only say, "She'll be home soon." They were supposed to go to Bloaty's that night, all together, as a family to celebrate Christmas Eve (Bloaty's being the only place open on Christmas Eve). But as she waited for her mother to walk through the front door, that family outing never happened. Christmas Day came the next day. Instead of presents Gaz was hoping to wake up to seeing her mother downstairs.

That didn't happen either.

Days went by without a word, but to add to the confusion people started parking outside of their home in news vans, groups of people with cameras and microphones asking questions. Police would come and go but none of it still made sense to Gaz nor Dib... Even after the media frenzy died down and weeks turned to months and months turned to years... They both grew up wondering.

But she never stopped hoping for her mother to walk through the front door, wearing the clothes Gaz last saw her in before she left for work that cold December night. She waited up until her cynical mind and her growing pessimistic insight on how life and reality worked made her realize the truth of why her mother never came home from work: That her mother was probably nothing more than old, rotting bones lying in a shallow grave.

Without even knowing it, she was right.

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**A/N: You guys won't know who exactly killed Gaz and Dib's mom until way later on in my IZ story (which is up, by the way) "Where is My Mind". This was... I guess a teaser for it. I wanted to at least now write about what at least happened to their mother. So here you go. :P I've been watching way to many crime shows...**

**And I'll tell you now: Gaz and Dib are cloned products of Professor Membrane and Jade in my stories. I think they did have a mother; they couldn't have been cloned from just their dad. There must have been a mom in the picture who gave her own DNA. So basically Professor Membrane and Jade were married, but never had a sexual relationship. They combined their DNA to make Dib and Gaz, but without actually having sex and without Jade getting pregnant.**

**Anyway, please review if you can!**


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